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Interesting Information
Barricade comes to find Swindle after an unexpected encounter with some very interesting and intensely anticipated information, which Swindle and Vortex intend to make studious use of indeed. ((Several days after "When Shadows Fall")) Characters Involved: Barricade played by Suburban Wolf '''(Chasm) '''Swindle played by Imaginary '''(Arch) '''Vortex played by Suburban Wolf '''(Chasm) '''Barricade Barricade walked through the base, glad to finally be fully repaired after the events of the past few weeks. He was also glad to have a short time of relaxation before he headed out again. It seemed that him being away from the base was going to be a constant, which he didn't really mind. He'd gotten used to the solitude during the 14 years he'd been on Earth. Still, it was also nice knowing he had somewhere to report to, and get repairs. Right now, he was looking for someone specific. Two someone’s, precisely. He'd heard that they were on Earth, but had yet to see them. Swindle Sitting in one of the private rooms of to base Swindle put the last few items he'd had out into their places in his drawer. He'd just finished doing his inventory. It was indeed a long process considering the amount of subspace storage he had, and that small interruption hadn't helped. But everything was in place and accounted for now. There was just one weapon missing, there was always that one. He sat back against the wall a bit frustrated. Thinking of that particular weapon always had that effect on him. It was the only one he'd tried to get but had managed to slip out of his grasp, the only weapon he could never obtain. And now it was gone, it had been for millions of years. He would never be able to get it and that failure would forever mar his reputation. Granted it was pretty much the only bad mark on his record but as far as Swindle was concerned one bad mark was too many. If he wasn't dependable people would stop doing business with him and he couldn't have that. Barricade Barricade found the room with Swindle's signal soon enough. Swindle was the main one that Barricade had wanted to talk to, which also worked since he hadn't had any luck in finding the wayward copter Vortex. Raising his hand, he rapped on the arms dealer's door. "Swindle? Got the time to talk?" The cruiser wasn't sure how many other 'Cons knew about what had happened almost 14 years ago, but was sure that Swindle would be one of the ones to know. Vortex had a way of finding stuff out and sharing it. Swindle The knock on the door snapped Swindle out of his thoughts and he quickly resumed his usual demeanor, sly and cautious with a hint of cocky. "That depends, what about?" he asked. It may have seemed rude but it wasn't unusual for Swindle. He liked to get the basics up front and know just what he was dealing with. He stood up, likely he would open the door once Barricade answered. Few came to speak with him about something that he had no interest in, likely because most knew better. Add that to the fact that he knew Barricade was a covert spy and truth be told Swindle was already slightly intrigued. Not that he'd let on that he was, not at this point anyway. Barricade Barricade knew the ball was in his court, and he made his own play carefully. "Just, information on a weapon that I heard while I was out and about a few Earth weeks ago." As little as Barricade knew about conversation, he'd picked up some tricks as an intell scout, though he wasn't nearly as good as Swindle. "A very old weapon. I'd say, a good few million stellar-cycles old." He'd listen to Vortex tease with information, and had picked up some of the tricks. Swindle Swindle's eyes narrowed suspiciously. A few million stellar-cycles old? He couldn't possibly mean...? He shook his head slightly as if to get rid of the thought. He figured the only reason he thought it might be that was because he'd just been thinking about it. There were plenty of older weapons out there, it could be any of them. "Is that so?" he answered, changing his facial expression to a sly smirk. He walked over to the door and opened it looking down at the smaller mech. "I think I can spare a few minutes." Barricade Barricade's four red optics focused on Swindle. "Well, to be honest, it's not so much that I have...information on the weapon as much as I spoke with the weapon." He could play and dance around a bit longer, but he knew Swindle would not be patient about this. "It called itself 'Arc.' It's at the Autobot base in the human state of New Jersey." There it was. He wasn't saying anything directly, but at the same time he was. Swindle A living super weapon that old calling itself 'Arc'? There was no mistaking it now, it had to be the Archetype. Still, Swindle was having trouble believing it. The Archetype had all but dropped out of existence for so long, why would it show up now and on Earth of all places? He just couldn't make sense of it. He looked down at Barricade, his expression holding both suspicion and warning. "I hope you know that if you're lying about this you will not see another day." It wasn't common for Swindle to make threats like that but this was serious, there was so much at stake he had to be sure. Barricade Barricade watched Swindle warily, one optic on the larger mech's Scattershot Blaster. "What would I have to gain by lying to you?" He inquired. "Especially when I know you, and the rest of your team, to be very good at getting back when someone wrongs you." The scout had no wish to get to intimately know the workings of a Scattershot. Ever. Swindle Swindle could tell by the way Barricade was acting and the way he spoke that he was telling the truth about The Archetype. He smirked a bit. //"Vortex, you'll never guess what I just found out from Barricade."\\ He crossed his arms looking at Barricade. "So, what exactly did 'Arc' tell you?" he asked. While he wasn't as obsessed with information as Vortex he still liked to be well informed. Plus he knew Vortex would want any available details. Vortex Vortex's frame shot up straight. He'd been recharging, but now he was fully awake. //"What'd ja find?! What'd ja find?!"\\ He was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. Unable to wait for a response from his gestalt-mate, Vortex ran out of his room and scrambled down the hall to Swindle's, not caring who he crashed into. Barricade "Not much, admittedly." Barricade replied. "They're insecure about them self, and seem to have a very low self-esteem. Though, they're developed enough to put up something of a good fight. Other than that, not much. I was interrupted by an Autobot before I could find out anything else." Two of his optics glanced to the side as he heard the sound of what could only be Vortex approaching rapidly. Swindle Swindle knew that this news would shock Vortex beyond all reason, make him 'shit bricks' as the humans would say. He could hear Vortex coming and was curious to hear if he would fall over from shock. //"The Archetype is here on earth."\\ He listened carefully to what Barricade said about the Archetype. He'd known that the Archetype's abilities were somewhat developed already, after all he'd seen it disappear right before his optics, but he wasn't sure on just how developed. "What kinds of abilities did it have?" he inquired. Vortex The message through the gestalt link made Vortex trip over his own feet, sending him tumbling the est of the way down the hall before landing on his back, and his rotor hub. //"Gah! Are you serious?! Is 'Cadey pulling a prank or something? I get to help tear him up if it's a prank, right?"\\ With a groan, Vortex pulled himself onto his feet, wiggling his back in an attempt to relieve the pain. Barricade Barricade shrugged again, watching Vortex warily, and stepping out of the way when the 'copter tumbled down the hall. "Invisibility and a 'danger sense' were all that I saw, though there might have been more. I think he told the other Autobot about my knee, but that could have been pure observation, as my knee joint was still damaged." He shifted uncomfortably, wanting to be able to leave again. He hadn't expected it to turn into a full-blown questioning session. "And he had a funky paint color. I couldn't tell what color he was. It kept shifting." Swindle Swindle held in a snicker as Vortex fell over himself though couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from twitching slightly. //"He seems sincere to me, and you know I'm a good judge of that."\\ It only made sense that Swindle would be seeing as how he knew how to lie well himself and thus knew the tricks and tells. Then something Barricade said caught his attention. "What do you mean 'danger sense'?" While he knew the Archetype was supposed to be a highly advanced super weapon there was little information on what it was actually capable of. Vortex //"Yeah, yeah. Better than some other things you judge."\\ Vortex was teasing, grinning at his gestalt-mate from behind his mask. //"And just keep laughing. Better make sure your room's locked and you sleep with one optic open tonight."\\ This made the psychotic 'copter erupt in laughter, an odd thing to witness for anyone who did not know of the private conversation between him and Swindle. Barricade "It looked like they could tell when an attack was coming, and where it was coming from, even if they couldn't see it." He glanced at Vortex when the 'copter began laughing all of a sudden for no reason. {"Gestalt links..."} "Is there anything else you need to know? I've already told you pretty much everything I know about the Archetype." He really did not want to be here. Swindle wanted to play 20 questions when Barricade only had 19 answers, and who knew what was going through Vortex's processor about the whole situation. Swindle //"Oh so now it's my fault you can't keep your composure?"\\ Swindle challenged glancing at his gestalt mate. Looking back to Barricade he listened carefully to his description of the 'danger sense' he claimed The Archetype had. "Well if that's all you know there really isn't much point to asking for more. But if you find anything else out let me know." The way he said that last part carried a certain implication as if to say 'I want you to keep an eye out and find out more' without explicitly saying it. Whether or not Barricade would comply remained to be seen though as he didn't imply any sort of threat. Vortex Vortex erupted into giggles again, sliding down the wall. /'/"Stumpy, you sure you weren't a comedian before you were with us?"\\' He looked at Barricade, laughing at the cruiser's unease. "I think we're scaring the poor little scout, Swindle." By this point, he'd fallen onto his rear and was laughing too hard to get back up. Barricade "I'm not about to make any promises, but if I find something, you'll be the first to know." Barricade ignored Vortex's comment, making for the open end of the hallway. "Nice to know I found something useful." With that, the cruiser started walking down the hall to the exit to the outside, where it wasn't so constricting. Swindle Swindle nodded to Barricade just before the scout left, his smirk growing once the smaller mech had turned away. He then turned to Vortex. "Well obviously you were just as surprised by this news as I was. Who knew the Archetype would show up here?" He turned and leaned back against the door frame casually, crossing his arms. He began looking a bit thoughtful. "The question now is how do we get it? According to Barricade it's at the Autobot base, there's no way we could get away with just barging in and trying to take it..." Vortex "I don't think anyone would have." Vortex replied, smirking behind his mask. "And we just need to find a way to get the Archetype out of the Autobot base." He thought for a moment. "Hey, is Mindwarp here? We could get her to bomb the base. Then, the Archetype would possible get flushed out, then we could grab it!" Swindle Swindle thought for a moment. "Possibly... But it would also flush the Autobots out, giving the Archetype backup. And if they overwhelm Mindwarp... Well, I don't know about you but I'd rather not deal with an angry Mindwarp..." He shook his head deep in thought. "No, we have to do this carefully... We can't afford any screw ups this time, we can't take that risk. It has to go smoothly... We need a solid plan... One that can't possibly go wrong..." Vortex Vortex's smirk turned into a grin. "I like having a plan. Onslaught always makes good plans. Yours are good too." His rotor blades fanned out and began spinning lazily. "Anything I can do to help with the planning?" Vortex asked, moving to lean on Swindle’s shoulder. Swindle Swindle shrugged. "I don't know... It's probably going to take a while to come up with something good enough to try..." He sighed, partially from frustration and partially from Vortex leaning on him. "We really could use some more information though... It's still a bit unclear just what we're dealing with or what weaknesses we can exploit..." Vortex Vortex giggled. "Pick me! Pick me!" He slid off Swindle's shoulder, landing on the floor. "I'll go! Maybe I can spot something!" He couldn't stop giggling. His entire frame was twitching. "Besides! I heard one of my 'old friends' is there. I think I'll pay her a bit of a visit, if I can get her away from the base!" The giggles had subdued. Vortex was getting serious. Swindle Swindle smirked having expected a reaction like that from his gestalt mate. "Alright, but keep in mind that getting information on the Archetype is the primary objective, not visiting an old friend." He knew Vortex would know to keep that in mind. Swindle was not fun to deal with when he didn't get his way and he would make sure that whoever let him down would learn not to in the future. Of course, Vortex and Swindle had been working together for a long time, there wasn't much concern over this topic. But Vortex was insane and could get sidetracked so the little bit of reinforcement on that part wasn't a bad idea. Vortex Vortex giggled a bit. "Oh, alright. Spoilsport." The copter managed to get himself to stand again. "I'll head out there now. Wanna get some high grade when I get back?" He was in a bit of a drinking mood, and the occasion felt right. "You know, to celebrate the information we just found?" Swindle Swindle shrugged, his smirk turning to a grin. "Sure, sounds like a plan." It had been a while since he and Vortex had had a good drinking night. There always seemed to be so much work these days. He remembered the days when their whole gestalt would drink together. Those were good times, even if some potential blackmail had resulted from it. He looked at Vortex still grinning. "Happy hunting!" Vortex Vortex gave a salute-wave. "You got it!" 'With that, he ran outside and transformed, taking off towards New Jersey, and the Autobot base. '//"Got a good excuse if anyone comes looking for me?"\\ He inquired as he flew. The last the he wanted was one of the higher-ups coming down on him for running off. Swindle Swindle turned and headed back into his room, already trying to work out something of a plan with what little information he had. //"I think they'll understand once I mention it has to do with us getting the Archetype."\\ he answered. Pretty much any of the higher ups would know just how valuable the Archetype was, just how much it meant. Swindle was sure that the idea of obtaining it after all this time was not just appealing to him, and once he had a solid plan and executed it there was sure to be praise coming his way, not to mention money. Category:Finished Threads